Did you form your music taste as a youngin’ in the 1980s? If so, there were probably just a handful of songs that swayed you in the direction of new wave or funk rock or 1980s-specific pop music. Let’s take a look at just a couple of songs that might have actually influenced your music taste as a kid in the 1980s!
Videos by American Songwriter
“Karma Chameleon” by Culture Club
Warning: Don’t click on the embedded video above unless you want to have this song stuck in your head for days. “Karma Chameleon” by Culture Club is, in my opinion, the catchiest earworm song of the entire 1980s. And it’s one of the most distinct new wave songs of 1983, specifically.
If you were very into club kid culture in the 1980s and also felt alienated as someone who struggled to fit in as a kid, this song probably resonated with you quite a bit back in the day.
“Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman
If you’re a big fan of 1980s ballads and singer/songwriters, or maybe even folk-pop as a whole, the 1988 song “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman might have been the one to convert you. This gorgeous and heartbreaking song about trying to escape the cards dealt by poverty as a child resonated with a lot of people in the late 1980s, and it quickly became Chapman’s signature song that year.
“Careless Whisper” by George Michael
Every George Michael fan I’ve ever met has been extremely dedicated to the former Wham! singer. His fanbase is incredibly loyal and remains so years after his passing in 2016. And if you’re the kind of pop-oriented person who had a poster of him on your wall as a kid in the 1980s, “Careless Whisper” might have been the song that altered your music taste forever. This song is a chart-topping masterpiece, and it became one of the biggest sophisti-pop songs of 1984.
“Need You Tonight” by INXS
Are you a diehard funk rock fan? Funk rock definitely had a bigger heyday prior to the 1980s, but the genre pulled in a whole new generation of fans with the release of “Need You Tonight” by INXS. Even if you’re not a funk rock fan, that riff will instantly transport you back to the 80s. And if your music taste leaned more toward dance-rock and the new wave flavor of rock that came to be in the 1980s, this might have been the song that converted you.
Photo by Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.